SAD usually begins, in the Northern Hemisphere, around November reaching its worst point for sufferers in January and February. It is caused when the shorter days of winter reduce the amount of sunlight to the retina. The lack of sun causes the body's level of serotonin to decrease while increasing the level of melatonin, which in turn causes seasonal depression. SAD symptoms disappear in spring, and many sufferers may experience a short period of hyperactivity or hypermania when the light begins to increase.
Summer sun picks me up and I feel better, less in pain and find it more easy to cope... not this year with the wettest and least sunny spring/early summer since records began!!!! Oh well...
Anyway, where was I?? Oh yes, my week. Well it came and went, without much done in my crafty'oom. However, I did tidy my awful desk and made it look as though I always have it that way!!! tee hee... starting another book when I can do a little , with some wonderful Graphic 45 paper, which is kraft colour. It looks fabulous with black, so I used a couple of precious black chipboard sheets for the cover. Will show you next week, if it gets any further along. So here we go - finally, I thought she would NEVER show us the photo!!! -
And the final "but" from the title??? Well, something that went right, for a change!! For a couple of months now, I have been battling the powers and gathering evidence about mum's need for pads, bless. We have some that are woefully inadequate, leading to her being wet several times a day.instead of comfy and dry!! Not to mention risk of skin problems and infections, or the amount of washing that piles up in a single day!!!
Finally, yesterday, I was called by a district nurse who asked if mum really needed to take all the pills she does, and also why I don't ask the carers to take her to the loo when they come!!!! OMG, I was cross but SO upset and in floods of tears... I actually called this woman a coward for not visiting for a proper reassessment and she had the gall to tell me it was "quicker this way" !!!! She also wondered why I was getting upset and said I should not, in a very condescending way, so I put the phone down on her!!!! YAY!!! She rang back...
The problem appears to be that you can only have 3 a day of the big monster ones that mop it all up, and you have to buy any others yourself... mum spends all her pension and allowances on the care we have 7 days a week... nothing left to keep her dignity and health intact!!! So I would have to pay from my pension...
Long story short - well THAT will be the day!!! - my social worker - oooo get her!! - rang this morning and said that she had asked the doctor if mum needed the pills she takes!!!!!! WHAT???? I guess he gave her short shrift from what she said!!! I kept cool today - that makes a first!! - and laid it on the line... I told her I would go public and tell the press how badly we are being treated, and all I wanted was dignity and dry pants for my 88 year old mum!!! She rang back some hours later and.... yes , you guessed it WE WON!!!!! We CAN have 4 big monsters, so my persistence won the war, after MANY battles and skirmishes. But it shouldn't have to be like that, methinks...
OK, the high horse is now back to grazing, and all is quiet on the western front - just a small cheer rings out in the night, for a fight well fought!!!
Thanks for the visit and reading my drivel!!! Still, the desk was good, eh??
Love and light
Frankie
xx
